Method of forming shaped body of bristle ultra fine particle at low temperature

ABSTRACT

A method of forming a film or a micro structurehaving high density and high strength by bonding bristle ultra fine particles without heating them. The bristle ultra fine particles blown to a substrate is applied with a mechanical impact force to break and bond them together.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to techniques of forming Shaped body such as a film or a micro structure on a substrate by applying ultra fine particles of bristle material such as ceramics to the substrate.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] As such techniques of forming a film or a micro structure on a substrate by using ultra fine particles of bristle material such as ceramics, a method of forming a film or a micro structure by mixing bristle ultra fine particles with carrier gas and blowing the gas toward a substrate via a fine nozzle has been proposed. In order to provide desired physical properties of the film or micro structure, it is essential that ultra fine particles in the film or micro structure have a desired bonding strength.

[0005] In practice, however, whether ultra fine particles can be bonded and molded at high density and strength at a room temperature without any thermal assistance depends on the physical properties of ultra fine particles to be used, and the reason of this is not still clear. Therefore, in order to obtain sufficient physical properties (mechanical and electrical characteristics and the like) by using a conventional molding (film forming) method, it is usually required to heat a substrate to a temperature of several hundreds ° C. or higher and thereafter bake it at a high temperature near the sintering temperature of ceramics (bristle material). In general sintering techniques for ceramics, it is also essential to bake ceramic material at a high temperature (at least 900° C. or higher) in order to bond ultra fine particles by utilizing thermal diffusion phenomenon such as by a solid state reaction and a solid-liquid state reaction.

[0006] Since such heat treatment is necessary, it is impossible to apply ceramics directly to a substrate having a low heat resistance such as a plastic substrate, and also it is necessary to prepare a sintering furnace which makes the manufacture process complicated. Such heat treatment may change the size precision or physical properties of a film or micro structure from those before sintering.

[0007] A method of forming a film or a micro structure without any heat treatment, which film or micro structure has high density and strength and is made of bristle ultra fine particles bonded at a desired bonding strength, has long been desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The invention has been made under such circumstances and aims at providing a method of forming a film or a micro structure without any heat treatment, which film or micro structure has high density and strength and other desired characteristics and is made of bristle ultra fine particles bonded at a desired bonding strength.

[0009] In order to achieve the above object, the invention provides a method of forming a bristle ultra fine particle shaped body at a low temperature, wherein a mechanical impact force is applied to bristle ultra fine particles supplied to a substrate to break the particles and bond them together.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a ultra fine particle film forming system.

[0011]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another ultra fine particle film forming system.

[0012]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another ultra fine particle film forming system.

[0013]FIG. 4 is a TEM image showing the cross section of an interface between a film formed at a room temperature and a silicon substrate.

[0014]FIG. 5 is a TEM image showing the cross section of particles used as source material and its electron beam diffraction image.

[0015]FIG. 6 is a TEM image showing the plan view of a film formed at a room temperature and its electron beam diffraction image.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] Embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0017] Referring to FIG. 1, in a chamber 2 of a ultra fine particle film forming system 1 a, a substrate 3 and a ultra fine particle supply apparatus 4 are mounted. In this embodiment, a nozzle is used as the ultra fine particle supply apparatus 4. A film is to be formed on this substrate 3. If necessary, a mechanical impact force loading apparatus 5 is disposed along a motion direction of the substrate 3.

[0018] The nozzle 4 is used for applying bristle ultra fine particles to the substrate 3 to form a ultra fine particle deposit 11 or a ultra fine particle pressed body 16. The ultra fine particle deposit 11 is a deposit of ultra fine particles on the substrate 3 supplied from the nozzle 4 and not bonded each other. The ultra fine particle pressed body 16 is a body of ultra fine particles blown from the nozzle 4 and bonded together by a mechanical impact force caused by the blowing force of the nozzle 4. The substrate 3 is mounted on a substrate driver apparatus 6 so that it can be moved in the chamber 2 along the horizontal plane. The nozzle 4 may be made movable in the chamber 2 relative to the substrate 3.

[0019] The mechanical impact force loading apparatus 5 is used for applying a mechanical impact force to the ultra fine particle deposit 11 on the substrate to break the bristle ultra fine particles 7 and form a ultra fine particle film 12.

[0020] Next, the operation of forming a film will be described. Ultra fine particles 7 are mixed with carrier gas in the nozzle 4 and blown to the substrate 3 while the substrate 3 is moved relative to the nozzle 4 to form the ultra fine particle deposit 11. Alternatively, ultra fine particles 7 are collided with the substrate to break and bond them to form the ultra fine particle pressed body 16. If this ultra fine particle pressed body 16 has physical properties sufficient for a target ultra fine particle film 12, this pressed body 16 may be used as the final ultra fine particle film 12 to terminate the film forming process. If necessary, a mechanical impact force may be applied to the ultra fine particle pressed body 16 formed on the substrate to further break the ultra fine particles of the pressed body 16 to form a ultra fine particle film 12 having a greater bonding strength. A ultra fine particle film will not be formed unless a mechanical impact force is applied to the ultra fine particle deposit 11.

[0021] The mechanical impact force to be applied to the ultra fine particle deposit 11 or ultra fine particle pressed body 16 in order to break ultra fine particles, may be realized: by accelerating bristle ultra fine particles by applying an electrostatic field or by using gas carrier to blow them to a substrate; by using a high rigidity brush or roller rotating at high speed, pressure needles moving up and down, or a piston moving at high speed utilizing explosion compression force; or by using ultrasonic waves. In this case, the carrier gas may be dry air without using specific gas such as inert gas.

[0022] It is necessary for ultra fine particles to be broken easily by the mechanical impact force generated either by the blowing force of the nozzle 4 or by the mechanical impact force loading apparatus 5. To this end, it is essential that the generated mechanical impact force becomes dominant over the bristle fracture strength of ultra fine particles. In order to satisfy this condition, raw material of ultra fine particles are pre-processed: to adjust by changing the pre-sintering temperature of the bristle ultra fine particles; to form secondary cohesive particles of about several hundreds nm in diameter by heating bristle ultra fine particles of several tens nm or smaller in diameter which are formed by chemical methods such as alkoxide colloid, pyrolysis, or by physical methods such as using vapor deposition and sputtering; or to form particles with cracks by processing them for a long time to a smasher such as a ball mill a jet mill, a beads mill and a vibration mill. By applying a mechanical impact force to such raw material of ultra fine particles, they can be broken to have a diameter of at least 100 nm or smaller so that a clean new surface can be formed and a low temperature bonding becomes possible. In this manner, bristle ultra fine particles can be bonded at a room temperature and a film having high density and strength can be formed. According to experiments made by the inventor, it is considered that such breakage of ultra fine particles by the mechanical impact force is not likely to occur if the diameter of each bristle fine particle of raw material is 50 nm or smaller. If the mechanical impact force is generated by the blowing force of the nozzle, this mechanical impact force is not sufficient for impact breakage if the particle diameter is too large. It is therefore preferable that the particle diameter is set in a range of about 50 nm to 5 μm for each of the above-described methods of applying the mechanical impact force.

[0023] Films were formed by using bristle ultra fine particles of lead zirconate titanate oxide (PZT) or titanium dioxide (TiO₂) prepared in the above manner. Dense films having a theoretical density of 95% were able to be formed, and the adhesion force to a silicon or stainless substrate was 50 MPa or higher.

[0024] A process of forming a bristle ultra fine particle film will be described by using as an example a process of colliding bristle ultra fine particles mixed with carrier gas with a substrate to break the particles. The ultra fine particles collided with the substrate first anchor with the substrate (anchoring effect) to form an underlying layer. In this case, the ultra fine particles may be partially bonded depending upon a combination of the materials of the particles and the substrate. However, this partial bonding is not necessarily required but it is sufficient if the underlying layer has such an adhesion force that the layer is not peeled off while bristle ultra fine particles collide with it thereafter. Ultra fine particles colliding the underlying layer break themselves and those particles on the surface of the underlying layer. These broken particles are bonded together at a low temperature to form strong deposit. In this manner, while the collided bristle ultra fine particles are deposited over the substrate, breakage and bonding are being progressed. The thickness of a film of bristle ultra fine particles to be formed on the substrate is determined based upon whether or not the breakage impact force can be maintained effective.

[0025] The method of applying the mechanical impact force includes in addition to a method of blowing bristle ultra fine particles from a nozzle toward a substrate, a method of using a brush or roller rotating at high speed or using pressure needles. In thinly depositing (developing) bristle ultra fine particles on a substrate, they may be pushed against the substrate by using the roller to press them without breakage, without necessarily using the nozzle. In some case, they may be only gently dropped down and deposited.

[0026] As a method of mechanically breaking bristle ultra fine particles, high intensity ultrasonic waves may be applied in a contact or non-contact manner. In this case, ultrasonic waves strong enough to break the particles are applied to a bristle ultra fine particle pressed body thinly developed on or mechanically pressed against a substrate to break the particles by the impact force induced in the pressed body by the ultrasonic waves. Although ultrasonic waves can be applied in a contact or non-contact manner, sound energy can be transmitted more efficiently if the ultrasound source is made in direct contact with the pressed body or via an impedance matching medium. The ultrasonic wave may be spatially converged by using a ultrasonic lens to apply it to one point and break this point. With this method, only a particular point of the particle pressed body may be bonded at a low temperature. If a ultrasonic wave is directly applied to a press mold or roller for molding a particle pressed body, the mechanical impact force by ultrasonic waves can be generated by a simple process.

[0027] A ultra fine particle film forming system 1 b according to another embodiment shown in FIG. 2 has a ultra fine particle supply adjusting blade 17 and a mechanical impact force loading apparatus 5.

[0028] The ultra fine particle supply adjusting blade 17 adjusts the supply amount of bristle ultra fine particles 7 to a substrate 3 by scraping and planarizing the surface of a ultra fine particle deposit 11 or a ultra fine particle pressed body 16. The supply amount is controlled by adjusting the height of the blade 17.

[0029] The mechanical impact force loading apparatus 5 has, as shown in FIG. 2, an impact force loading roller 13 and a high intensity ultrasonic wave applying apparatus 14.

[0030] The impact force loading roller 13 is used for forming a ultra fine particle film 12 by directly applying a mechanical impact force to the supply amount adjusted ultra fine particle deposit 11 on the substrate 3. The high intensity ultrasonic wave applying apparatus 14 drives the impact force loading roller 13. The impact force loading roller 13 may be any other body so long as it can load the mechanical impact force to the ultra fine particle deposit 11 or ultra fine particle pressed body 16. For example, in a ultra fine particle film forming apparatus of another embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a number of impact force loading needles 15 are used. The embodiment of the invention described above may be applied not only to forming a dense film but also to a porous film, by adjusting row material particles and film forming conditions such as a film forming speed. A porous film is effective for applications requiring a large specific surface area, such as electrodes of a fuel battery and a super capacitor.

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLES

[0031] (1) Introduction

[0032] For application of piezoelectric material to a micro actuator or the like, it is important to form a thick film of about 20 μm and then finely pattern it. Lead zirconate titanate oxide (PZT) of about 0.1 μm in diameter, typical piezoelectric material, was mixed with gas to make it aerosol and blow it via a nozzle to a substrate in the form of a high speed jet flow to form a film. This method is more advantageous in that a dense thick film can be formed in a dry process without binder and fine patterns can be formed easily, as compared to a screen printing method. As different from general film forming techniques, it can be considered that the electrical characteristics of a film formed by this method are greatly influenced by the heat treatment conditions and the structure change in ultra fine particles such as PZT particles to be caused when they collide with a substrate. The microscopic structure of films were investigated in order to clarify the film forming mechanism and improve the film characteristics.

[0033] (2) Experiment Method

[0034] PZT ultra fine particles were ejected from a nozzle having an opening size of 5 mm×0.3 mm and deposited on a substrate by using an aerosol gas deposition method. The substrate used included a silicon substrate, a SUS 304 substrate, and a PT/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrate. The PZT particles had a composition of Zr/Ti: 52/48, a specific surface area of 2.8 m²/g, and an average particle diameter of 0.3 μm, and were heated and dried in a low pressure of 10 ⁻² Torr. Carrier gas was He and dried high purity air, and the particle speed was controlled by the carrier gas flow rate. The microscopic structure of a PZT film having a thickness of 20 μm formed in the above manner was observed as TEM images and electron beam diffraction images.

[0035] (3) Results and Conclusions

[0036]FIG. 4 is a TEM image showing the cross section of a film formed on an Si substrate at a room temperature. There is a damage layer of about 0.15 μm at an interface between the Si substrate and a PZT layer, the damage layer being formed through collision of PZT ultra fine particles with the substrate. It can therefore be presumed that a mechanical impact force was generated by the collision of PZT ultra fine particles, the impact force exceeding the plastic flow pressure (Vickers hardness: 5 to 12 GPa) of Si. Since the brittle fracture strength of PZT ultra fine particles is 2.3 to 4 GPa, it can be expected that such a large mechanical impact force sufficiently broke PZT ultra fine particles and generated a new surface.

[0037] According to the composition analysis through EDX, thermal diffusion into the Si substrate was hardly recognized. Voids were hardly found in the film and at the interface, indicating that the dense film was formed at the room temperature.

[0038]FIG. 5 is a TEM image in cross section of rawmaterial particles, and FIG. 6 is a TEM image in plan view of a film deposited at a room temperature on a Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrate. Raw material particles were partially cohesive and had inner strain and defects. Particles were almost single crystals as determined from an electron beam diffraction image when considering the particle diameter near to that observed by SEM. The crystal grain size was concentrated in a range of about 0.1 to 0.5 μm. In contrast, an as-deposited film at the room temperature had a polycrystalline structure that there was no significant change in the composition of the film both in the cross sectional direction and in-plane direction, with large crystal particles of about 0.1 to 0.2 μm approximately of the original size being embedded and surrounded with small crystal particles of about 10 to 40 nm, and also that a number of fine contrasts were observed which might be generated by strain. From these studies, it can be understood that some of PZT ultra fine particles of raw material are broken finely and form fine crystals of about several tens μm because of collision with the substrate during the film forming process.

[0039] As described above, according to the present invention, a mechanical strength (brittle fracture strength) of bristle ultra fine particles is adjusted in accordance with a mechanical impact force to be applied to the bristle ultra fine particles so that the impact breakage occurs, or the mechanical impact force is applied in accordance with the mechanical strength of the bristle ultra fine particles. In this manner, a clean new surface is formed and the bristle ultra fine particles are bonded together so that a ultra fine particle film having high density and high strength can be formed at the room temperature. The new surface formed through breakage of the bristle ultra fine particles is again bonded in a very short time on site by the pressure applied to the bristle ultra fine particles. Since the time taken to bond the particles again is very short, the film forming atmosphere may be the atmospheric air without using a specific atmosphere such as an inert gas atmosphere. As the size of the bristle ultra fine particles becomes about several tens nm, the surface energy increases to enhance bonding, and generation of voids can be prevented which are otherwise formed because of undefined shapes of particles. A dense film or micro structure in the order of several tens nm in diameter can be obtained.

[0040] Since bristle material such as ceramics having a high melting point can be formed on a substrate at the room temperature, the surface of a substrate made of material having a low melting point such as plastics can be coated with ceramics. A vinyl film was attached to a stainless steel substrate, and bristle ultra fine particles of PZT was blown to the surface of the vinyl film. It was possible to form at the room temperature a very rigid shaped body having a density of 97% and an adhesion force of 15 MPa. It was able to form ceramic material having a nanometer size crystal structure finer than raw material ultra fine particles, through breakage impact. The density of the shaped body was higher than the theoretical density of 95%. Therefore, the temperature of heat treatment for grain growth was able to be lowered. For example, in the case of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), the temperature was able to be lowered by about 300° C. as compared to a usual sintering temperature. A lowered grain growth temperature was thus confirmed.

[0041] As the bristle ultra fine particles broken into under 80 nano meter size have many fine new surface, the surface energy of the bristle ultra fine particles increase to enhance bonding of them.

[0042] Therefor it is required at least a part of bristle ultra fine particles supplied to a substrate to be broken into 80 nano meter or less size by applied mechanical impact force in the process of the present invention.

[0043] Further, by no heating to the shaped ceramic body such as ceramic film having polycrystal structure with nano meter order crystallite size formed by the process of the present invention, the fine crystallite in the body don't grow and is keeped in fine broken size and it brings improving elasticity and strength of the body and then it brings improved characteristics toughness.

[0044] As apparent from the above description of the invention, bristle ultra fine particles such as ceramics are broken to particles of about several tens nm by applying a mechanical impact force. A clean new surface can be formed on site, and by utilizing this surface, ultra fine particles are bonded together. In this manner, a shaped body such as a film and a micro structure of high density and high strength can be formed without heating. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of forming a bristle ultra fine particle shaped body at a low temperature, wherein a mechanical impact force is applied to bristle ultra fine particles supplied to a substrate to break the particles and bond together the particles or to bond together the particles and the particles and the substrate.
 2. A method of forming a bristle ultra fine particle shaped body at a low temperature, according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical impact force to be applied to the ultra fine particles supplied to the substrate is realized: by accelerating the bristle ultra fine particles by applying an electrostatic field or by using gas carrier to blow them to the substrate; by using a high rigidity brush or roller rotating at high speed, pressure needles moving up and down, or a piston moving at high speed utilizing explosion compression force; or by using ultrasonic waves.
 3. A method of forming a bristle ultra fine particle shaped body at a low temperature, according to claim 1, wherein the bristle ultra fine particles are subjected to a pre-process in accordance with the mechanical impact force to be applied to the bristle ultra fine particles so that the mechanical impact force becomes dominant over a bristle fracture strength of the ultra fine particles.
 4. A method of forming a bristle ultra fine particle shaped body at a low temperature, according to claim 3, wherein the pre-process is realized: through adjustment by changing a pre-sintering temperature of the bristle ultra fine particles; through formation of secondary cohesive particles of about 50 μm to 5 μm in diameter by heating the bristle ultra fine particles of several tens nm or smaller in diameter; or through formation of bristle ultra fine particles with cracks by processing the particles for a long time by a smasher such as a ball mill and a jet mill.
 5. A method of forming a bristle ultra fine particle shaped body at a low temperature, according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the ultra fine particles supplied to the substrate is broken by applied machanical impact force into the particles of size of 80 nano meter or less. 